Timeline of the harassment claims against Cuomo
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo speaks during a news conference on July 26. Credit: AP/Richard Drew
Key dates in the sexual harassment claims against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo:
Dec. 13, 2020: Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development adviser to Cuomo, said on Twitter that Cuomo "sexually harassed me for years." She said she was moved to tweet the statement after Cuomo’s name was mentioned in an Associated Press story as a possible choice for U.S. attorney general in the incoming Biden administration.
Dec. 14: "It’s not true," Cuomo said the following day in his daily news briefing.
Feb. 24, 2021: Boylan said in a Medium online post that Cuomo kissed her on the lips after a meeting in his office and suggested they "play strip poker" during an airplane trip. The governor has denied this and all other allegations.
Feb. 27: A second former Cuomo aide, Charlotte Bennett, then 25, accused Cuomo, then 63, of unwanted sexual advances and posing questions about her sex life when she worked for him.
Feb. 28: Cuomo announced he will choose a special counsel to investigate the claims. Under pressure from legislators, Cuomo agrees to let Attorney General Letitia James hire and deputize a law firm to investigate.
March 1: A third woman, Anna Ruch, told The New York Times that Cuomo touched her back, held her face and kissed her on the cheek at the 2019 wedding reception of a Cuomo staffer. Ruch hadn’t worked for Cuomo.
March 2: Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) is the first prominent New York Democrat to call for Cuomo to resign.
March 3: Cuomo denied any sexual harassment, but said hugging, kissing and flirting is part of his "way" of being friendly and connecting with constituents and staff. Newsday reports that Cuomo’s handling of two sexual harassment accusations against him may have violated a 2019 state law Cuomo championed that requires such complaints to be thoroughly investigated.
March 6: Former Cuomo staffer Ana Liss and Karen Hinton, who worked for Cuomo’s 2000 campaign, said Cuomo had behaved inappropriately with them.
March 7: State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) called for Cuomo to resign. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), a Cuomo ally, said the governor should "seriously consider" resignation. Cuomo refused.
March 8: James appointed Joon Kim, a former federal prosecutor, and Anne Clark, an employment lawyer, to lead the investigation of Cuomo.
March 9: A current Cuomo employee said she was groped by Cuomo in the Executive Mansion in Albany in 2020, according to the Albany Times Union. (Weeks later, the woman was identified as Brittany Commisso, an executive assistant in Cuomo's executive chamber.)
March 11: Heastie announced that the Assembly Judiciary Committee under chairman Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) would begin an investigation that could lead to impeachment.
March 12: Top New York Democrats led by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on Cuomo to resign.
March 13: Cuomo addressed the accusations at a news conference: "Harassment is not making someone feel uncomfortable — that is not harassment. If I just made you feel uncomfortable, that is not harassment. That’s you feeling uncomfortable."
March 19: An eighth woman, Alyssa McGrath, accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, saying he looked down her shirt and called her beautiful in Italian.
March 22: Debra Katz, a lawyer representing Bennett, accused Cuomo of interfering with the attorney general’s investigation by providing lawyers to meet with Cuomo staffers.
March 29: Sherry Vill said she was inappropriately touched and kissed by Cuomo in 2017 when he toured flood damage in her hometown of Greece.
April 19: State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, a Democrat, provided a referral for James to investigate Cuomo’s use of top staff to edit his political memoir in 2020 on his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 15: The attorney general subpoenaed four women who accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, according to The New York Times.
July 17: Cuomo is questioned by the attorney general’s investigators, according to news reports.
July 26: Cuomo questioned the independence of the investigators chosen by the attorney general. Kim was a federal prosecutor in the bid-rigging investigation of Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion project that resulted in convictions for Cuomo’s closest longtime aide and friend, Joseph Percoco, and three developers.
Aug. 3: The attorney general's investigators release their report, which concluded the governor sexually harassed 11 women. Cuomo issues a 20-minute video denying the accusations.
Aug. 7: Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple says the department has received a complaint that would lead to a misdemeanor charge against Cuomo. The complaint was related to the alleged groping incident at the Executive Mansion.
Aug. 9: Commisso tells CBS News that his unwanted groping and kissing wasn’t consensual and his denials are "disgusting,"
Aug. 10: Cuomo resigns, effective in 14 days. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will become governor and New York’s first woman chief executive.
Oct. 28: A criminal complaint is filed against Cuomo, accusing him of groping a former aide in the governor’s mansion last year.
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
'It's disappointing and it's unfortunate' Suffolk Police Officer David Mascarella is back on the job after causing a 2020 crash that severely injured Riordan Cavooris, then 2. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger and Newsday investigative reporter Paul LaRocco have the story.
'It's disappointing and it's unfortunate' Suffolk Police Officer David Mascarella is back on the job after causing a 2020 crash that severely injured Riordan Cavooris, then 2. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger and Newsday investigative reporter Paul LaRocco have the story.
